Rosemarie Ronde: A Desire to Help

by Stephen Levine

As a 20-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, and currently an emergency services administration student, Rosemarie Ronde has seen a lot. Now retired, she remembers one of the toughest days in New York City’s history: September 11, 2001.

“It was not a good day,” Rosemarie recalled. “We are a large police department and we take every measure to get the job done.”

After her retirement, Rosemarie’s job had come to an end, but her career in protecting public safety was far from over. She could have stayed with the police department longer when she retired as a sergeant. Instead, she started working as a public safety supervisor and soon decided that there were more opportunities in front of her.

“I’ve had the experience,” she said. “Now let me reward myself.”

Before joining the police force, Rosemarie had attended college part time, studying business and accounting, and worked in banking. However, after her time as a police officer and public safety supervisor, she said, she found the emergency services administration program “a natural progression.”

While furthering your education often results in a higher income and healthier job prospects, the returning emergency services student hopes to work with a group of people who want to do one thing: help.

“I really like to work with volunteers—something like the Red Cross—where people want to help,” Rosemarie said. “I was a volunteer in Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina and during [Superstorm] Sandy.”

When it came to searching for the school that best fit Rosemarie’s desires, Adelphi had the curriculum that she liked most and, after some time in the program, she discovered she made the right decision.

“I absolutely love it,” Rosemarie said in regard to her experience in Adelphi’s program. “It’s a very nice blend of emergency services and organizational skills. It’s hard to come back to school at my age, but the professors, advisers and classmates are very supportive. I’m very grateful for the experience.”